The present invention relates to a hand tool and more particularly relates to a nail driver for small brads and nails.
There are many instances in which it is difficult to drive a nail or brad using a conventional tool such as a hammer. In close or tight areas or areas which have obstructions, it is often not possible to accurately and squarely strike the head of the nail causing it to bend or become dislodged. Nails, particularly small nails or brads, are often driven with a small hammer and the worker must secure the nail in place with pliers until the nail is set. Once the nail is driven, finish work often requires that the nail be countersunk which requires striking the nail area with a hammer or using a countersink. Again, it may be difficult to access the location of the nail head and, further, countersinking operation may damage the nailing surface.
As a result, various mechanical and hand-held nailers can be found in the prior art. Most mechanical nailers require that the force be applied perpendicular to the nailing surface. This requires a downward impacting force that may not be possible when the worker is in a position with arms outstretched reaching to the nailing location.
Further, many mechanical nailers will place unnecessary and excessive pressure on a nailing surface which, when working on precision items such as small-scale models, may cause the model to bend or become damaged.
The prior patent art contains various patents on nail drivers. U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,475 discloses a hand-held nail driver. This device includes a cylindrical guide tube and a plunger rod. A handle is mounted on one end of the plunger rod and the plunger rod is inserted into the guide tube. A nail is placed into the guide tube and a handle is moved to cause the plunger to strike the nail driving the nail into a surface. The guide tube is then held in place as the handle is pulled back to retract the plunger rod from the guide tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,271 entitled xe2x80x9cNail Driverxe2x80x9d shows a driver in which the nail is held within a cylindrical nail chamber by a magnetized cylindrical driver rod. A driver sleeve is concentric with the nail chamber and attached to the rearward end of the drive rod. As the driver sleeve is moved towards the surface, the driver rod drives the nail into the surface. A coil spring attached between a chamber guide nut on the driver sleeve and the nail chamber biases the nail driver in the extended position. A reinforcement cap between the driver rod and the driver sleeve is adjustable to adjust the distance that the nail is driven into the surface.
While nail drivers such as those described above, may be effective, there nevertheless exists a need for an inexpensive and simple nail driver that can be used in tight areas.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a nail driver for use in driving small brads and nails and which can be used by those engaged in constructing model railroads, dollhouses, architectural models, ships and other precision or fragile items.
Briefly, the present invention provides a nail driver having a generally tubular body defining a longitudinally extending bore. A plunger is reciprocal in the bore. The plunger is rod-like and has a driver head at its lower end which is preferably magnetized. The upper end of the plunger extends from the upper end of the tubular body and terminates at a loop or other configuration which can be easily grasped between the fingers of the user. A hook extends from the exterior of the body disposed adjacent the lower end of the body. An elastomeric member, such as a rubber band, extends between the upper loop and the lower hook. By pulling up on the top loop, the magnetized rod will draw a nail or brad into the lower end of the tube. The lower end of the body can then be placed on the working surface at the desired location. The plunger is manually pulled upwardly against the biasing force of the rubber band and then released causing the plunger to impact and drive the nail. The steps can be repeated as necessary if a single blow does not completely sink the nail.